Teager
Sr. Member
- Reaction score
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Brihard said:Either way we'll find out on the 5th. I'll be there.
Keep us posted. I bet it's going to be a very interesting weekend.
Brihard said:Either way we'll find out on the 5th. I'll be there.
Hehr: Be Patient With Veterans Lifelong Pension
Matt Carty
September 23, 2016 12:30 pm
Hehr: Be Patient With Veterans Lifelong Pension
WINNIPEG – Canadian veterans are being asked to be patient when it comes to the re-establishment of their lifelong pension.
Canada’s Veteran Affairs Minister Kent Hehr was in Winnipeg on Friday to meet with new office employees and service members.
He was asked about his party’s election promise to bring back the lifelong pension for veterans after it was eliminated in 2006 by the former Conservative government in favour of a controversial lump sum payment.
“We’re going to continue to work towards having a clearer option for a lifetime pension and I ask people to be somewhat patient,” Hehr said.
There is currently a lawsuit making its way through the courts in British Columbia that was filed by six severely disabled Afghanistan veterans in 2012.
It was halted in 2015 during the election campaign with the hopes that a new government would create new legislation on lifelong pension for veterans, but as of June the lawsuit is back on.
A judge is expected to make a decision some time in the fall.
“We can’t run government by lawsuit, but we can implement good public policy and that’s exactly what we’re doing and I can say we are very proud of the work we are doing,” Hehr said.
The lack of action on the government’s part has not sat well with veterans who preferred the lifelong pension over the lump-sum.
Winnipeg military reservist Harvey Gingras says he took the lump sum of about $93,000.
“You get a large check, does not last very long. Especially people who have PTSD or any psychological problems – impulses spend it. Especially the younger ones who are getting out now don’t really know how to manage funding,” Gingras said.
Based on this:cdnwo said:Not exactly sure what progress or decision this explains.
http://m.theguardian.pe.ca/Opinion/2016-10-13/article-4662487/KENT-HEHR:-Working-together-for-veterans/1
... here's the plain text:... I had three main objectives going into the Summit. I wanted to reach a common understanding of the challenges we face; I wanted all participants to hear and discuss the progress the Advisory Groups are making; and I wanted a solid understanding of their best advice and recommendations to help inform the government about the best way forward.
I am confident that we accomplished that.
(...)
I made a commitment to veterans’ organizations and stakeholders - and to all Canadians - to be more open and transparent and to engage them in a dialogue on how we can better support veterans. ...
Brihard said:I was there at the summit in my capacity as a member of one of the six advisory groups (mental health in my case). What do you guys want to know? I'm happy to answer any questions about it, within the scope of what I can speak to.
Brihard said:I was there at the summit in my capacity as a member of one of the six advisory groups (mental health in my case). What do you guys want to know? I'm happy to answer any questions about it, within the scope of what I can speak to.
Last week, I participated in the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) Stakeholder Summit in Gatineau, Quebec. It had broad engagement from Veterans’ organizations and advocates from across the country. I was particularly impressed by the situational analysis and recommendations presented by the Ministerial Advisory Groups on Policy, Service Excellence, Mental Health, Families, Care and Support, and Commemoration as well as status updates from the leaders in the room.
As General Vance emphasized, we need to put as much effort, structure and support in place for serving members and their families at the time of release as we did at the time of recruitment. We also need to recognize that this is not a “one-size-fits-all affair” – particularly for the approximately 1,500 members who are medically released each year.
If you are told to leave the military because you can no longer meet the occupational requirements of the job – known as ‘universality of service’ – then the government has an obligation to ensure that you are supported and are able to transition to civilian life successfully.
The first thing that ought to be done is to make sure that the CF Pension of all releasing members is waiting for them when they take off their uniform for good. For many, this is the main contributor to financial security post-release.
Over the last two years, my team and the DND/CF Ombudsman’s team have worked together to fix the system. In our project summary “Joint Transition Project - Closing the Seam”, we map the transition process and highlight to government the top three things that need to be done now to make a difference: applying once for all VAC benefits and having a navigator help members through the process; reducing wait times for the Canadian Forces pension; eliminating duplication and overlap between the different programming offered by DND and VAC.
VAC also needs to improve how it delivers services to Veterans and their families. I recently submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs with suggestions on how VAC can modernize its service delivery and make it more Veteran-centric. I support change that would improve wait times for benefits, and I believe that there are other ways to improve the backlog.
I urge Parliamentarians to use all of their political will to reduce program complexity for Veterans. This would go a long way to improving service delivery so that Veterans get the services and benefits they need.
I and members of my team remain committed to ensuring fairness for ill and injured Veterans so that they obtain the care, support and compensation they need. While it is recognized that there are challenges, what is needed is constructive discussion and a focus on the end game. Now is the time to get it done.
That was also the broad consensus that I found amongst Summit participants and I am pleased that DND and VAC are working diligently together towards the desired outcome of successful transition. I will continue to monitor progress in this area and push for change.